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Platform:
Microsoft Xbox 360 Review by: Steve Hamner
“Warrior needs food badly.”
–Gauntlet
Ahh, Gauntlet. So many ill-spent quarters. Marvel
Ultimate Alliance, and many games like it, owe a lot to Gauntlet.
With its simple tactics, button-mashing combat and character
progression, Gauntlet paved the way for the action-RPG.
The action-RPG is an interesting animal. Normally
with a hybrid game, if one element fails the title is substandard.
However, with an action-RPG you can really tank the RPG element,
and, providing the action is good, still produce a game that’s good
fun. Such is the case with Marvel Ultimate Alliance.
I’m not a Marvel guy. Mainstream superheroes are
usually too two-dimensional for me (yes, I’m not only a comic book
geek, I’m a comic book snob). However, there’s great appeal in the
mix-and-match of Marvel Ultimate Alliance. With 20 superheroes
throughout the Marvel universe at your disposal, things get
interesting. Put together Johnny Storm, Wolverine, Captain America
and Thor and there are good times to be had.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance throws the player (or
players) into the spandex of such Marvel legends, lining up against
every Marvel badguy to grace a four-color page. And while this game
isn’t breaking any new ground, there’s no denying that it’s a blast.
Anyone can pick this game up and play. I tested it with a friend who
is not well acquainted with such games, and he had Wolverine ripping
up Sentinels with gleeful abandon.
Fighting is a combination of button mashing and
occasionally using special power moves, and thankfully those special
power moves are easy to set up and employ. Not only that, but they
look great; Captain America bouncing a hurled shield through enemies
or Johnny Storm conflagrating a black-hat is presented beautifully.
While Marvel Ultimate Alliance doesn’t push the boundaries of the
360, the action still looks and sounds great.
Character progression can be micro-managed by the
player or handled by the AI. Learn new abilities, enhance existing
ones or increase your hero’s health or power capacity as you gain
levels and scoop up coins that fall from nearly everything the men
(and women) in tights destroy. Wolverine’s vivisection move is
something to see, and The Thing is absolutely fierce after some
powering-up.
However, the RPG element of this story comes up
short. It’s entirely linear, and seems like little more than a way
to string different missions together. While there is an ongoing
story, it’s shallow and predictable. Toward the end I found myself
rushing through the RPG elements of the game just to get to the
combat. As I stated, with good action, you can skimp on the
role-playing element, and Raven did so here.
The AI of your party members isn’t bad. They
fight effectively, either choosing targets of opportunity or
following the team leader’s orders. Their pathfinding is, for the
most part, efficient, and they very rarely find themselves
“trapped.” However, there are occasional moments where this fails.
There are times in which you cannot advance unless they stay in a
certain area, or do not engage a particular enemy. Regardless of
your orders, they move and fight. It’s incredibly frustrating.
Combat, while fun, isn’t very imaginative. While
the power moves set the superheroes apart, it seems nearly every
member of the Marvel Universe wades in with fists of fury and little
else. Come on…Dr. Strange putting up his dukes? I would’ve liked to
see a little more character definition in this. I hope Marvel’s
forthcoming MMO isn’t going to be a glorified massively-multiplayer
boxing match.
The thing that really sells this game is
cooperative multiplayer. Get together four friends and go
shoulder-to-shoulder against the Marvel forces of evil and you’ve
got an afternoon of good times. Put together any team you like
(Spider-Man, Blade, Dr. Strange and Iceman is an interesting
combination) and go at it. That’s worth the cost of admission right
there.
While the role-playing element of this title
falls flat, Marvel Ultimate Alliance is still very good times. The
production values are nothing stellar, but the smooth gameplay,
varied character progression and customization and the cooperative
play options more than make up for it. Give it a rent.
-- Steve Hamner {02-2007} Rate this article — |
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Past Reviews by Steve Hamner:
Gears of War
(X360) |
